Elster Group Names Simon Beresford-Wylie New CEO
LUXEMBOURG, Nov. 4 /PRNewswire/ -- Elster Group, the world's largest
technology and innovation driven provider of smart metering and smart grid
systems and solutions to the gas, electricity and water industries, has
appointed Simon Beresford-Wylie as Chief Executive Officer (CEO), effective
immediately.
Mr. Beresford-Wylie (51) joins Elster from Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN), one
of the world's largest telecommunications infrastructure and network solutions
companies, where he was CEO and a member of the Nokia Group Executive Board.
"Simon Beresford-Wylie's deep experience leading and transforming a global
technology company that combined hardware, software and professional services
into a portfolio of advanced customer solutions is directly relevant to
Elster," said Howard Dyer, Chairman of Elster Group. "He will bring
exceptional value to our customers and also to the Group as it moves into a
period of sustained growth driven by the transition to smart grid technology."
Mr. Dyer has led the business and will continue serving as the company's
Chairman, a position he has held since 2005.
"I am excited and honoured to have been asked to lead Elster, a Group with a
170 year heritage that has seen exceptional growth over the past several years
as it transformed into a company providing advanced metering and smart grid
solutions to help its customers and consumers conserve precious energy
resources," said Mr. Beresford-Wylie.
"Elster has a superb set of assets and capabilities, including global presence
and scale, one of the world's largest combined installed bases of electricity,
gas and water meters, talented people, and a long history of developing and
providing innovative, trusted solutions to its customers. These assets, and
the Group's pioneering role in smart grid development, provide an excellent
springboard for growth. I am looking forward to contributing to this next
phase of growth," said Mr. Beresford-Wylie
About Smart Metering and the Smart Grid
Electric utilities worldwide are integrating smart-grid technology into their
transmission and distribution systems, utilizing integrated smart metering
solutions like those provided by Elster to:
-- Reduce the loss of electricity as it moves from the generating plant
to homes and businesses; the reduction of delivery losses can have a
direct environmental and economic impact by increasing efficiency and
reducing carbon emissions;
-- Assist utilities in better locating the area of an outage before
dispatching crews, reducing outage time for customers
-- Improve monitoring and control capabilities of the system while
enhancing proven grid reliability
On October 27, 2009, the U.S. Department of Energy awarded $3.4 billion in
federal funding under the Obama Administration's American Recovery and
Reinvestment Act to 100 utility projects with the goal of accelerating
deployment of advanced smart-grid technology, including the installation of at
least 18 million smart meters. The deployment of smart meters under the new
program would increase the number of smart meters in the U.S. to approximately
40 million homes, or between one-quarter and one-third of the total homes in
the nation.
Additional Biographical Information on Simon Beresford-Wylie
Mr. Beresford-Wylie joined the Nokia Group in 1998 and led NSN since its
inception in 2007. From 1998 to 2007, he held a variety of senior leadership
positions within the Nokia Group in Asia-Pacific and Europe. From 1995 to
1998, Mr. Beresford-Wylie was CEO of Indian mobile network operator Modi
Telstra, and prior to this was an executive with Australia's Telstra
Corporation. He holds a degree from the Australian National University, and
is a graduate of the Executive Development Program of Stanford
University/National University of Singapore.
About Elster Group
Elster is global leader in advanced metering infrastructure, integrated
metering, and utilization solutions to the gas, electricity and water
industries. Elster's systems and solutions reflect over 170 years of knowledge
and experience in measuring precious resources and energy. Elster provides
solutions and advanced technologies to help utilities more easily, efficiently
and reliably obtain and use advanced metering intelligence to implement energy
conservation measures, improve customer service, enhance operational
efficiency, and increase customer benefits. Elster's AMI solutions enable
utilities to cost-effectively deliver, manage, and conserve the life-essential
resources of gas, electricity, and water.
Elster has delivered more than six million devices worldwide with more than 60
smart systems located in North America, Europe, Central America, Australia,
New Zealand and the Caribbean. Elster has more than 7,000 staff and operations
in 38 countries, focused in North and South America, Europe, and Asia.
Elster Group (formerly Ruhrgas Industries) was acquired by funds advised by
CVC Capital Partners from the German utility group E.ON in September 2005.
In 2008, Elster generated revenues of euro1.3 billion or $1.9 billion.
For further information, please contact:
John Bluth
Vice President, Investor Relations and Group Communications
Elster Group
+1 919-250-5425
john.bluth@us.elster.com
Todd Fogarty
Kekst and Company
+1 212-521-4854
todd-fogarty@kekst.com
www.elster.com